Blog - Paul Beardsellhttp://www.paulbeardsell.com/blog/Tue, 24 Mar 2015 00:25:56 +0000en-GBSite-Server v6.0.0-13633-13633 (http://www.squarespace.com)Why we use SlackCarterPaul BeardsellMon, 16 Mar 2015 03:04:30 +0000http://www.paulbeardsell.com/blog/how-we-use-slack5385b9e0e4b0eadfb77d0223:5385bc08e4b0ced978f6121c:5506155ae4b052040efca0fbOk, email sucks, It just plain does. Take a look at why here at Carter
we've jumped on to Slack to solve our communication needs.We've recently started using Slack at Carter. What's Slack you may ask? Slack is many tools built in to one; you'd instantly recognise it as a messaging platform but it's much more than that, let me explain.

Why

Let me try an explain why we prefer Slack to the competition.

Team Communication

Ok, email sucks, It just plain does. If you're like me you get email from all sorts of sources, some meaningful and important, some sent by robots (LinkedIn requests etc), some from my team, some less important or even worse - spam.Google have tried 'fixing' this by separating email in to an "Important" folder, and the excellent Outlook app for iPhone has made an effort to do this via a "Focussed" area, however none of these address the real issue - receiving email in the first place.What we were looking to do was to cut the number of emails received everyday, the easiest way was to stop emailing each other without missing any communication. Enter Slack.

The idea of messaging each other isn't new, we had been using HipChat for a year or so before this. HipChat worked well and we didn't know that it wasn't what we wanted until we switched.At first glance Slack works in the same way as HipChat, you can send a direct messages to each other or to a group via a "room". This alone is not why you'd move to Slack:

Search

Search is one of the major benefits of email over many other communication platforms. Take a look at Gmail, anything you've ever said to someone is searchable. This is now essential.Sure HipChat has a search function; you type a keyword and it finds who said that along with the rest of the conversation. However, imagine this: you share a Google Doc with a colleague and 6 months later you know the gist of that document but not what it was called or who you sent it to. With Slack you can use the search feature to find a keyword within that document, now thats something!

Integrations

Integrations are the power behind Slack. There are some built in features, such as /remind me which allows you to create a reminder for yourself, or when you share a link it will unfurl the content and display a summary right there in Slack.

Slack integrates with much more though, and this is where you start to remove some of the robot generated email we talked about earlier. At Carter we use JIRA to manage our tickets, Slack will send a notification in to our JIRA channel any time an ticket status changes. We use NodePing to monitor the status of our sites; I have a Gmail rule to add a label to these emails and mark them as read so they don't appear in my unread email. IFTTT then looks at my email, finds emails with that label and pushes a message through Slack. You get the idea...

There are lots of first party (Slack created) and third party (Community created) integrations to bring your communication in to one location. If the tool you want doesn't exist Slack has an excellent API with some powerful incoming / outgoing web hooks you could use.

How

Slack is a powerful flexible tool that can be used in a multitude of ways, this is how we use it.

Platform

Like any studio we are pretty fluid in our location. The majority of the time the team are in the studio but typically are in one of two situations, at their desk or elsewhere. Our steering team are quite often out of the studio as much as they're in it.We needed a tool that doesn't tie us to a desk or browser window.

Slack has an excellent application for iPhone, we have one Android user and he seems to like the Android version, because of this we can be anywhere and still choose to dip in to a conversation. But when we are at our desks the desktop tool is fantastic!

Notifications

One of the things I didn't like with HipChat was that you felt compelled to answer any direct message or room chat, Slack somehow manages to let you focus on what you think is important. For example the numbers next to channels or people are only where you have been specifically mentioned.

You can change notification messages to only bug you when you see fit. Email me when I'm away from my desk, or don't email me if I'm signed in on the mobile app etc.

You could star important channels to only focus on the conversations within, or you can be notified whenever someone in any room mentions a specific word or phrase.

Channels

I've heard different organisations use channels in lots of different ways, I'll explain what we do.

When you sign up to chat there are two default channels, General, and Random.General is used for studio wide announcements, when someone is on holiday, or when we have a client coming in etc.The other is Random, we use this to post animated gifs of Quokka's.

We create a channel for each project and each team, all communication can then be grouped and at any point a member of the team can dip back in and catch up. Files related to that project can then shared in a central location.

Slackbot

The most underrated part of Slack is one of the most useful. Slackbot is another 'robot' member of your team and is the user who informs you if you've been mentioned in another channel and reminds you of anything you've asked to be reminded about. But it's much more than that: you can store snippets of information, you can add a file you frequently use or use it as temporary scratchpad for your thoughts.

Roundup

Slack is a new tool and will continue to evolve, we will continue to love it!

If you want to try Slack and give us a little love in the process follow the link below:

]]>Why we use SlackiWatch ConceptsPaul BeardsellFri, 11 Jul 2014 06:56:41 +0000http://www.paulbeardsell.com/blog/iwatch-concepts5385b9e0e4b0eadfb77d0223:5385bc08e4b0ced978f6121c:53bf86b2e4b06be54e6e7a39Before the iPhone was launched back in 2007 there were quite a few concepts
being shown off around the web, we're now seeing a similar trend with the
iWatch.Before the iPhone was launched back in 2007 there were quite a few concepts produced that could have been the iPhone according to their designers; All of which turned out to be way off the mark.

We're now noticing a similar trend with the widely anticipated launch of an iWatch. So I thought I'd put a small gallery of iWatch concepts.It'll be interesting to compare them to the "real thing" if a device is released.

]]>iWatch ConceptsBacking up the MacMini MySQL Database ServerDevelopmentPaul BeardsellMon, 07 Jul 2014 23:30:00 +0000http://www.paulbeardsell.com/blog/backing-up-the-macmini-mysql-database-server5385b9e0e4b0eadfb77d0223:5385bc08e4b0ced978f6121c:53ba7f69e4b0afc035d36500Recently I documented the process of setting up a MacMini as a MySQL
database server; this is all now running well so I thought I'd add the
second part - Making sure it's backed up!Recently I documented the process of setting up a MacMini as a MySQL database server; this is all now running well so I thought I'd add the second part - Making sure it's backed up!

Creating the backup file

The first part is creating a bash script to use the MySQL mysqldump command to dump all the databases on the server in to one file:

Create a new file somewhere convenient (at the root of your user directory is a good place) on the server named backup-script.sh and open it in a text editor.

The contents of the file can be found on GitHub Gist. It's pretty self explanatory but you'll need to change line 11 to be your local backup location and the other area you will want to change is on line 23:

# Move it to a backup location server
cp "/Users/$USER/Backup/MySQL/mysql_dump_$DATE.sql.gz""/Volumes/General/Backups/mysql_dump_$DATE.sql.gz"

This block copies the file from the original location to a new location. My recommendation is that this location should be somewhere on a different computer and one ideally that is backed up offsite (perhaps a dropbox directory)

Running the task regularly

Ok, so now we can create a backup we need to automate it. The easiest way (that I've found) is to use a Cron task. Open up Terminal and type:

$ sudo crontab -e;

This will open the cron task in an editor (VIM in my case). There are plenty of websites describing how Cron timings work so I won't bother. I'll just explain that this is what we use to trigger the bash script at 1am every morning.

0 1 * * * sudo sh /Users/user_name/backup-script.sh

You'll need to change user_name to be the username in question and make sure that this is the full path to the script created. Save the file and exit.

You're done, pretty easy after all.

]]>Backing up the MacMini MySQL Database ServerWe're Hiring - UX/UI DESIGNERPaul BeardsellThu, 03 Jul 2014 11:25:12 +0000http://www.paulbeardsell.com/blog/were-hiring-uxui-designer5385b9e0e4b0eadfb77d0223:5385bc08e4b0ced978f6121c:53b53cf9e4b01a32d9f72020http://www.australianinfront.com.au/jobs/listing/ux-ui-designerCarter Digital is a multi award-winning digital agency based in Melbourne. and we are looking for a UX/UI Designer with a passion for creating innovative web sites and applications.

]]>We're Hiring - UX/UI DESIGNERUsing a MacMini as a database serverAppleDevelopmentPaul BeardsellMon, 30 Jun 2014 06:00:00 +0000http://www.paulbeardsell.com/blog/using-a-macmini-as-a-database-server5385b9e0e4b0eadfb77d0223:5385bc08e4b0ced978f6121c:53afb523e4b0129f4e7b899eWe've being using a MacMini as a database server forever. It was fast,
reliable and easy to use. Until it died. Seeing as I now need to configure
a new one I thought I'd document the process.We've being using a MacMini as a database server forever. It was fast, reliable and easy to use. Until it died. Seeing as I now need to configure a new one I thought I'd document the process.

For ease, I'm assuming that like me you're using a brand new MacMini. We chose the base model as it's got more than enough power to do what we want.

Step 1. Get the database up running and accessible.

Download required applications

Install the software

Run the MySQL installer and add the preference pane widget being sure to check the "Automatically Start MySQL Server on Startup".

Start MySQL server.

At this point MySQL is up and running and the default username is root without any password.

Add Sequel Pro to your applications folder and launch it.

Configure the user

Once Sequel Pro has launched we need to configure the root user to have a password and allow access from other locations across the internal network.

First we need to add a password to the root user, this is pretty straight forward but does require terminal.

Fire up terminal and login to mysql by typing "mysql -u root" and hitting return. If you get an error message like mysql not found don't worry, take a look at the advice here it's likely that the computer doesn't know where MySQL is.One other thing that may trip people up here is if your MySQL server hasn't been started already, if that's the case jum in to your System preferences, click the MySQL icon and start it.

Once you're logged in type "SET PASSWORD FOR ‘root’@‘localhost' = PASSWORD('your_password');" and hit return. Replacing your_password with the plain text password you want to use.

Once your password has been set you can exit mysql by typing "exit".

Network settings

Lets tackle the internal network issue now.

Open Sequel Pro and select "mysql" from the database in the top left and select the user table.

Duplicate the localhost / root record (typically the first record) and we'll change the host field.

Depending on your security requirement there are a couple of options for the host value. If we assume that your local network IP range looks something like 192.168.1.X we can use the following to grant access to everyone on the network: 192.168.1.%.Alternatively if you are less concerned about security you could open it to everyone by just using % as the host value.

We now need to restart MySQL by opening System Preferences, select MySQL and stop and start the server.

Once this is done the database server will be accessible but unless we've set a static IP address for this computer it may change each time it's restarted. To solve this:

Open up System Preferences and select network.

Make a note of your IP address (assuming we want to use this address permanently) and click advanced.

Click the first tab (TCP/IP) and change the first option to be "Using DHCP with a manual address".

A text box appears for you to add an IP address, enter the IP address from step 2 (or an alternate one if you'd prefer).

Click ok and then apply.

At this point you should have a working MySQL database server that can be access via a network using the IP address of the computer.

]]>Using a MacMini as a database serveriOS Interface Depicted on a Hypothetical 2.5-Inch iWatch ScreenMobilePaul BeardsellThu, 19 Jun 2014 23:33:03 +0000http://www.paulbeardsell.com/blog/ios-interface-depicted-on-a-hypothetical-25-inch-iwatch-screen5385b9e0e4b0eadfb77d0223:5385bc08e4b0ced978f6121c:53a372f1e4b04937b25e17afLewis Dorigo has previously speculated that the iWatch would have a
2.45-inch display with a 480x640 display, and has even created a crude
mockup depicting what an iWatch of that size would look like on a wrist. On his blog, Dorigo goes deeper into his predictions for the iWatch, explaining that a 2.45-inch iWatch with a Retina display of 480x640 would have same pixel density (326 ppi) as the iPhone 5s, the iPhone 5c, and the Retina iPad mini. He's speculates on what a 2.45-inch iWatch's UI might look like, with the creation of several mockups with an iOS 7-style design.

While several rumors have suggested the iWatch will indeed run iOS, it is still possible that Apple could go in an entirely different direction with the device, creating a standalone interface or an iOS-based interface that deviates from the iPhone's interface.

Dorigo suggests that 80 pixels of the screen might be reserved for a CarPlay-style digital home button, leaving a 240 pixel space for apps, but that's pure speculation -- Apple could also choose to place a physical home button on the side of the device.

Along with a home button built into the screen, Dorigo imagines a largely touch-based interface, where Siri is activated via a press on the screen and individual apps have large, easy-to-press buttons. He also speculates on what the interface might look like when connected to an iPhone, as the iWatch is rumored to be heavily integrated with existing iOS devices.

]]>iOS Interface Depicted on a Hypothetical 2.5-Inch iWatch ScreenFantastic Google project - Night WalkTechPaul BeardsellMon, 02 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000http://www.paulbeardsell.com/blog/google-night-walk5385b9e0e4b0eadfb77d0223:5385bc08e4b0ced978f6121c:53873441e4b03af9d1c56664A really cool way for Google to use Street View
"Night Walk" takes you on an immersive journey through lively Cours Julien,
a neighbourhood of Marseille famous for its unique atmosphere and street
art.

"Night Walk" takes you on an immersive journey through lively Cours Julien, a neighbourhood of Marseille famous for its unique atmosphere and street art. Listening to your guides Julie and Christophe, you can wander around the vibrant streets as if you were really there, thanks to 360-degree panoramas that we captured at night. Your walk is enriched with photos, images, videos, sounds and interesting facts, allowing you to dive into this neighbourhood and learn more about its diverse culture and history. Enjoy your night walk!

- This is pretty awesome

]]>Help fight cancer via a smartphone appMobilePaul BeardsellThu, 29 May 2014 00:40:07 +0000http://www.paulbeardsell.com/blog/help-fight-cancer-via-a-smartphone-app5385b9e0e4b0eadfb77d0223:5385bc08e4b0ced978f6121c:53867fd5e4b0ef904916ddbdHere’s an interesting play, this time its Samsung for Cancer Research with
PowerSleep. They have developed an android app made specifically for their
phones that processes research data while you’re sleeping.Here’s an interesting play, this time its Samsung for Cancer Research with PowerSleep. They have developed an android app made specifically for their phones that processes research data while you’re sleeping.

By using your un-used processing power at night, specifically for Cancer research centers, enabling them to fast-track their research with the power of millions of global Samsung users.

And whilst the case film feels a little gimmicky, the idea is absolutely not. A powerful way to harness the world for good. Click here to download it and help.

]]>Help fight cancer via a smartphone appRobots.txt in ExpressionEngineDevelopmentPaul BeardsellWed, 28 May 2014 11:21:32 +0000http://www.paulbeardsell.com/blog/robotstxt-in-expressionengine5385b9e0e4b0eadfb77d0223:5385bc08e4b0ced978f6121c:5385c64be4b00692956884cbWhen developing a site we've quite often come up against the issue of the
robots.txt file needing changing based on the server. I'll show you how to
acheive that with ExpressionEngineWhat's a Robots.txt file?

If there are areas of your site you do not want indexed by search engines, you can use a robots.txt file to inform the spiders where to go and not go. These files are a simple text file that's placed on your web server.

The problem

When developing a site we've quite often come up against the issue of the robots.txt file needing changing based on the server. For example, on a staging or development server you want the entire site to be hidden whereas on a live site you may want it all to be open.

A solution

There are methods to control this via .gitignore files etc but it gets a bit messy and isn't for everyone.

The solution I'm proposing will only work in certain situations - namely an ExpressionEngine build, but the idea could be applied equally well to other platforms.

Have any questions?

Name *

Name

First Name
Last Name

Email Address *Message *
Thank you!
]]>Are you a savvy Business Development Manager?CarterPaul BeardsellWed, 28 May 2014 11:18:38 +0000http://www.paulbeardsell.com/blog/are-you-a-savvy-business-development-manager5385b9e0e4b0eadfb77d0223:5385bc08e4b0ced978f6121c:5385c415e4b0342df68b677aFantastic opportunity for a savvy Business Development Manager to work
within one of Melbourne's premier, award winning user experience digital
agencies - Carter Digital.Fantastic opportunity for a savvy Business Development Manager to work within one of Melbourne's premier, award winning user experience digital agencies - Carter Digital.

A proven commercial track record of selling digital solutions to clients and previous experience in a target driven new business role is essential.

What it takes to join Carter:

Following up all leads & managing through full life cycle

Generate new leads and opportunities

Pitching & presenting to clients

Looking at new markets & opportunities to expand within accounts

Contribute towards ideas for new products & services

Your focus is:

Look at opportunities to maximise their current revenue streams & to bring on new clients.

You must have exceptional communication skills, enabling you to build strong relationships and have a history in a similar position pitching digital solutions to clients.

Benefits of Working at Carter:

Drive your career with ongoing training and conferences Be part of and drive a creative and passionate culture Enjoy a converted warehouse studio and open environment - in the heart of Fitzroy Close to CBD, public transport, and bike paths Competitive salary and bonus scheme.

We're offering a fantastic opportunity to work with an agency that attracts a variety of clients from ASX listed companies, globally recognised charities and nationally renowned organisations within the arts sector.

Carter Digital is a fun & friendly team in the heart of Brunswick St, Fitzroy. Our HQ has been hand-crafted by its founders from recycled eco-friendly materials into the perfect creative environment.

]]>iWatchApplePaul BeardsellWed, 28 May 2014 11:09:36 +0000http://www.paulbeardsell.com/blog/iwatch5385b9e0e4b0eadfb77d0223:5385bc08e4b0ced978f6121c:5385c36fe4b0342df68b66f7The rumours have been increasing over the last 12 months to a point where
if Apple didn't release a watch the world would be shocked.The rumours have been increasing over the last 12 months to a point where if Apple didn't release a watch the world would be shocked.

There are a few contenders out on the market now such as the Pebble andSamsung Gear. Both have their merits, it seems like the Samsung Gear is more capable but the Pebble seems to be more popular.

To be honest, I think Apple have their work cut out if they want to compete - but that's what we said about the iPhone. Apple don't tend to enter a new category without the intention of having the best product.

Lets examine what, in my opinion Apple would need to create to dominate the category.

A Watch

Now, I know that sounds obvious but there's no point in creating a device that nobody would wear on their wrist all day and can't tell the time.

Weight

Watches are all different weights, some light some a bit heavier but nobody wants an iWatch equivalent of the iPhone 4s! The iWatch would need to be heavy enough to know it's there without being an issue.

Gender Specific

The thing that Apple haven't done before is create a device that is specific to a gender. Yes, they've released different coloured iPods and laptops but never a device that's essentially the same but with a different form factor. Typically watches are designed to be different sizes or shapes to appeal to the different genders. It will be interesting to see how Apple tackles this. I have a feeling that in the first iteration they'll release a single design.

Battery life

Apple's thing at the moment is increasing battery life, look at the new MacBook Air's when they're running Mavericks you can get 10 hours out of them. The iWatch won't be an exception. I have a Fitbit and while I love wearing it it irritates me every week when I have to charge it, I can't imagine how painful it would be to worry about something that's more deeply integrated in to my life. There's been talk of solar and kinetic charging but I still have a feeling we'll be charging regularly, I just hope it's not every day!

Screen

The Pebble uses an LCD that looks and acts like an eInk screen and the Gear uses a Super AMOLED screen. Apple will need a screen that doesn't burn through the battery but can render full colour - we're not expecting Retina in the first version (much like the iPad mini) but Jonny Ive will still want to describe it as gorgeous, beautiful or some other superlative.

Apps/Integration

This is where I think Apple will excel. Think back to the first iPhone keynote, everyone wondered what the hell an Internet Communicator was - it turns out that was the "thing" that made the iPhone. I'm really excited to see what Apple will do here, I'm sure they'll have a fitness app and notification centre but it;s the unknown that will define this sector.

Other features

There's a plethora of other "required" features but most of these will be a given: Water resistant, changeable bands, alarm clock etc etc.

Now, we just have to wait and see what happens.

]]>iWatchCreating an SSH keyDevelopmentPaul BeardsellWed, 28 May 2014 11:07:15 +0000http://www.paulbeardsell.com/blog/creating-an-ssh-key5385b9e0e4b0eadfb77d0223:5385bc08e4b0ced978f6121c:5385c29fe4b009c065f6e984We quite often need to generate an SSH key on a remote environment, so open
terminal and lets create a key.We quite often need to generate an SSH key on a remote environment, so open terminal and lets create a key.

I'm assuming that you've logged in to the server via SSH.

1. Check for existing keys

$ cd ~/.ssh
$ ls

If you have either a id_rsa.pub or id_dsa.pub and know the password then great skip to step 3.

2. Create a new key

Create a new ssh key using your email as a label

$ ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "email@email.com"

You'll then receive a prompt:

$ Enter file in which to save the key (/Users/name/.ssh/id_rsa): [Press enter]

This is asking where you should save the key. Just use the default by hitting enter.

3. Copy the key to your clipboard

Now you need to grab the contents of that key to use elsewhere.

$ vi /Users/name/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

This will open your key in Vim, just copy the conetnts and you're done!

]]>The Royal Women's HospitalCarterPaul BeardsellWed, 28 May 2014 10:59:47 +0000http://www.paulbeardsell.com/blog/the-royal-womens-hospital5385b9e0e4b0eadfb77d0223:5385bc08e4b0ced978f6121c:5385c133e4b07cdf02859396Responsive website design for The Royal Women’s Hospital, Melbourne Carter
have pulled out all the stops in creating the new website for The Royal
Women's Hospital. The website has been using a responsive framework to be
completely device agnostic.Carter have pulled out all the stops in creating the new website for The Royal Women's Hospital.

The website has been using a responsive framework to be completely device agnostic.

]]>The Royal Women's HospitalWant to work with an Award Winning digital agency?CarterPaul BeardsellWed, 28 May 2014 10:48:49 +0000http://www.paulbeardsell.com/blog/want-to-work-with-an-award-winning-digital-agency5385b9e0e4b0eadfb77d0223:5385bc08e4b0ced978f6121c:5385bed3e4b0f705ee28a8efCarter is growing and in need of: An Account Manager Our OCD Client Team
are passionate and dedicated to creating the healthiest client
relationships going 'round. Apply Here User Experience And Interface
Designer Carter Digital is a multi award-winning digital agency based in
Melbourne.Carter is growing and in need of:

An Account Manager

Our OCD Client Team are passionate and dedicated to creating the healthiest client relationships going 'round.

User Experience And Interface Designer

]]>Why I love JIRAPaul BeardsellWed, 28 May 2014 10:37:39 +0000http://www.paulbeardsell.com/blog/why-i-love-jira5385b9e0e4b0eadfb77d0223:5385bc08e4b0ced978f6121c:5385bc33e4b0883f710936e6If you've not used it before, Jira is used by us (Carter) to track issues
relating to a project we might be working on. It doesn't really matter what
that project is, we primarily use it to track tasks when building website
but we're finding more and more uses for it.What the hell is JIRA?

If you've not used it before, Jira is used by us (Carter) to track issues relating to a project we might be working on. It doesn't really matter what that project is, we primarily use it to track tasks when building website but we're finding more and more uses for it.

Why do I love it so

Jira is intended to make your life easier, and it does. Granted when you first start playing with it your first impression is whoa, this is a bit over the top. Trust me, persevere with it and you'll be rewarded.

We use the agile boards to get a birds eye view on the status of a project. My guys add their estimated time against tasks so we can track how much longer is needed to complete the project.

The thing that I ignored for a while is the JQL queries, but the more data you add in the more you want to filter it to a granular level.

Bitbucket

We use Bitbucket to host our GIT repo's and JIRA and Bitbucket are BFFs. Adding a ticket id can pull that commit info through to JIRA. This make cherry picking commits a breeze.